Leading America's horses to safety since 2003.

Archive for May, 2010

We want to fill you in on some history. When volunteer Amee was pregnant, Tawnee was always telling her “Don’t lift that, don’t do that, you really should be home resting, etc etc.” Today Amee brought her bundle of joy to the rescue, and when Tawnee hobbled out of the truck, Amee started telling her “Don’t get that horse, don’t do this, don’t do that” just the same that Tawnee did to her a few months ago.

Amee gave her bundle of joy to Tawnee and said “Here, this is your job today, babysit!” Tawnee agreed, babysitting and taking pictures was her job for the day.

Amee got to work evaluating horses.

After Freckles was saddled, everything seemed to be going just fine and normal. But then Freckles reared, took a leap to the side, and started bucking! Tawnee was watching and then realized she had the camera in her hand so she took a picture just as poor Amee was about to fly through the air.

Amee bravely got back on Freckles and everything seemed to be normal after that. We were told when we rescued Freckles that he has had 90 days professional training and has been shown. Today was just not his day.

The next horse to be evaluated was Roper. He saddled up just fine and everything once again seemed to be normal

Roper was in the round pen, and then he took a giant rearing leap almost straight into the air! Amee hung on for dear life, and eventually he came back to earth…

…just in time to do it again, just not quite as high this time.

When he front legs were coming down, he back legs decided to go up. Amee went up in the air too!

Then everything was fine again. These horses were all rescued from the same place, and one has to wonder if it was their custom to take a huge giant rear before going for a ride. Good thing we have a helmet law enforced for all ages at the new facility! Amee now holds the title of the first person to be bucked off at the new facility.

Amee even got a bruise from her close encounter with the ground. By this time Tawnee was quite grateful that she was stuck on babysitting duty.

A horse trailer pulled in with the most adorable face looking out. Meet Lucky, a 12 year old Welsh pony who is unfortunately a cryptorchid stallion. To geld him is a costly surgery, we estimate about $750, but we will know from our vet soon! The lady that surrendered him donated $50 towards his gelding fund, so that only leaves about $700 left to go!

Lucky is such a gorgeous boy! So incredibly handsome.

He got in the round pen and started checking out his new surroundings. He is just so adorable.

Meanwhile Jason had been working on the fencing for hours.

The fencing is easy to put up once the posts are in the ground.

Parcy has not had a bottle for awhile because he is a big boy now. Just for fun Larry put a little yummy soda in the bottle and gave it to Parcy. He couldn’t believe his luck! He got so excited, and it was second nature to suck on the bottle. We believe he wants a soda a day.

All too soon his yummy treat was gone. Parcy looked at Tawnee as if to say “It can’t be over so soon can it?”

He ran over to Tawnee and stuck his face up to her as if to say “Please, give me some more!”

That didn’t work so he got a little more desperate. Tawnee didn’t want him getting a caffeine buzz, so she had to tell him no.

Jason and Larry stretched another section of fencing up.

There is a bit over 500′ that has been set up now.

We would like to thank an anonymous person for coming by and donating some wormers and other items today. Thank you so much! It is so nice having the rescue at an easier to get to location where people can more easily drop by and donate needed items.

Under the picnic table, Chance was hanging out. Chance was abandoned on the side of the road and picked up by our staff. We have held him for much longer than needed, and as no one has claimed him, he is available for adoption. He is up to date on his shots and we also had him gelded, oh wait, that is neutered for dogs. He is a sweet guy and loves hanging out with people. He is ready for a loving home, adoption fee $50.

By this time Raja’s adopters came to adopt her. Their application had been approved and they were excited! But then the adopter said “I know there are horses that are hard to place, I want to give one of them a home.” She looked through all the hard to place horses, and chose Silver as their pasture pal.

Tawnee did get away from the baby long enough to help Raja load.

Silver was a good boy and hopped right in. Thank you so much for giving these two a great home. We are sure that Silver will like having a ‘girlfriend’ instead of grumpy guys that don’t like him. Thank you!

Tawnee finally got a great sunset photo at the new facility. It is truly beautiful.

We would like to ask for your support once again in helping with Lucky’s cryptorchid gelding surgery. We do not have the funds to have this expensive surgery done, and we cannot adopt out a stallion. The only way he can find a home is to have his surgery done. You can make this happen! Please donate to help with Lucky’s gelding surgery, click here. Your donations will be greatly appreciated, and Lucky thanks you too! Please give him the gift of life.

Many thanks to anonymous and an IBM employee for their generous donations over the weekend! You can see your name here tomorrow, just click.

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Tawnee made it out to work today! A couple of horses were scheduled to be adopted today, and she wanted to make sure it all went smoothly. Her knee is still causing a lot of pain, but she managed to hobble around on her crutches throughout the day.

While waiting for the adopters to show up she started giving Macho Man his makeover. He has to be looking his handsome best for the horse expo coming right up!

Soon Frankie and Copper Hopper’s adopters made it. They are so happy with the new additions to their family.

Frankie took one last look at the rescue and hopped into the trailer. He is such a good boy! Copper Hopper was a good boy too but needed a couple minutes to make up his mind that he really did want to leave.

As they drove away Macho Man was enjoying his new look while he munched on some yummy grass.

Sadly, Silver had to come back to the rescue today. He was adopted by a very lovely person, but several of her other horses, also adoptees from us, decided that Silver was not welcome. They just would not get along with him. Apparently 3 is a herd at that home, and 4 is too many. She did not want him to get hurt, and brought him back so hopefully a new home can be found for him. We always welcome any and all of our horses back.

Jason and Tawnee got to work on the fence line. A couple days ago Tawnee called up Jason, who was working at the rescue, begging him to let her come work on the fence. Due to her knee injury, Jason said “No.” Today he just couldn’t keep her from working on the fence.

One by one the rails went up.

Jason did all the long walking to get it laid out.

This fence is very easy to put up once the posts are in the ground.

About 200′ of fencing was installed today, and it looks so nice! We can’t wait until it is all done.

Some supplies were needed in town. While in town, Jason stopped at WalMart to get a charitable booth registration form. Thankfully, WalMart has tightened up the registration process to solicit funds in front of WalMart. Hopefully it will keep scam artists like Cliff Hoffman at bay.

The pull-rope had broken on the generator this week, so Jason got the needed parts to fix it up. Tawnee says that her leg had too much excitement and is ready for a break.

We would like to remind you that eBay Giving Works is a great way to raise funds to help the rescued horses while selling your stuff on eBay. This month they are sending almost $35, which is 4 bales of hay!

Thank you all for your support, both emotionally and financially. Emotional support keeps the staff and volunteers going, financial support keeps the horses being rescued, fed, vetted, given farrier care, housed and placed into great homes like Freddie and Copper Hopper.

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“The majority of the infected are generally female, although occasionally a male will become infected. Please put this on your status if you know, or are related to someone who suffers from this disease. Symptoms include, but are not limited to; Reluctance to cook, clean or do housework; Reluctance to wear make-up, good clothes or high heels; Reluctance to spend money on home or car repairs until after “my baby has new shoes, pad, blanket, tack, grain, hay & supplements.

Amobacter Equuii usually results in long hours away from home and exhaustion which may lead to a loss of physical contact with other humans (especially husbands.)

Amobacter Equuii is thought to be addictive, resulting in the compulsive need to be around even more Horse hair – the very thing that has infected you. This compulsion may lead to a “herd mentality” or, like the potato chip commercial, “you can’t have just one”.

Beware! If you come in contact with a female human infected by this substance, be prepared to talk about horses for hours.

The above was posted on Facebook by one of our friends and we thought you may all enjoy reading it as we did.

Tawnee is still laid up in bed taking the week off from her kicking accident last Sunday. She hasn’t been drug into the hospital yet, each day she can put some more weight on her leg, and she hopes to be back at full steam ahead on Sunday. She has been replying to phone messages, sorting emails, and generally doing everything she can, but so far no outdoor activity.

This morning the horses were more than happy to see signs of activity at the new facility. That meant that breakfast was on the way!

Jason and Alex got to work cutting the extra long railroad ties in half to make two fence posts out of one. They are very hard to cut through, but one by one they were getting done.

Jason kept eyeing the sky with suspicion, wondering if and when the rain might start falling.

This may look bad, but unbelievably enough, 4 major pieces of equipment have broken down at the rescue this week. First the motor burned out on the borrowed airless paint machine for painting the office. Then the tractor backhoe chain broke. Today the riding lawn mower blade busted and the generator pull rope broke. Talk about a bad week for the equipment! It sure is odd how things go in waves.

The owner of the tractor, Dean, came by today to see if we could get a plan of attack for fixing the tractor and getting the job done. It is an older backhoe so parts are not quite as easy as they could be to find.

The rain started absolutely dumping, so Jason and Alex headed to Chico to hopefully buy the needed parts. Unfortunately, the store that said they had them, did not, so they were unable to get the needed parts. Hopefully someone can find them soon!

Thank you all so much for your very inspiring logos! Below are some of the great logos that have been submitted. Please enjoy the wide variety, we sure did!

We have put the logos in a poll and you can vote for your favorite! Note: the poll is to let our board of directors know which logos rank highest, not to pick the final logo. To vote, click here.

We now have 1,200 fans on Facebook! That is a great milestone to reach today. If you are not one of our friends on Facebook, please do so! Facebook is where we post when we are streaming live video, breaking news, rescues are happening, lots of fun up-to-the-minute stuff! www.Facebook.com/norcalequinerescue

Many thanks to Carla G., Joyce D., Bonnie W. (inspired by officer Kramer!) for their very generous donations today. We couldn’t do it without your help!

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First of all we got a great update on Kramer, a horse we adopted out awhile ago. “Officer Kramer is doing well. He led Eureka’s annual Rhododendron Parade this year. He will be hitting the streets pretty regularly now that the weather is improving. The parade stopped a couple of times, which we thought was great. It gave us an opportunity to share Kramer’s story and t…each people about the rescue. It also gave an opportunity for people to give him lots of attention and for me to explain why he sticks his tongue out (still working on that.)” Way to go officer Kramer, you are looking so handsome!

This morning Alex hurried through the feeding because there was a lot planned for the day. Notice that the hay is stacked on the ground for now.

As you know, last year NorCal raised the funds to purchase a 48×48 pole barn. It was delivered and then sat waiting for the new facility to be purchased. We are ready to set it up, but have a slight problem we are hoping you can help us with. The county is wanting the plans engineered before they will issue a building permit. If you know of any building engineers that would be willing to volunteer to engineer the structure please let us know! We cannot wait to get the hay barn put up and filled with hay!

Jason hooked the borrowed dump trailer up to the truck in preparation for the back breaking job of loading rail-road ties. They make great fence posts, but are oh so heavy.

Soon Jason, Alex and Larry were heading out.

When they arrived at the train depot to pick up the posts, a very nice person offered to run the backhoe to load the posts into the trailer!

One by one the posts went up into the air, were swung around…

…and then lowered gently into the trailer. We can’t thank the backhoe operator enough for making our day that much easier. Each tie is 100-350 lbs.

Back at the new facility unloading was easy enough: push a button…

…the front goes up in the air……and the posts all come sliding out. It’s amazing that thanks to Larry we were able to get these ties for the low low price of 47 cents each. Everywhere else they cost $15-$20 a post! Thank you Larry for going the extra mile in finding such a great deal.

Jason then got on the backhoe and started putting more fencepost holes into the ground. He was making good progress and was within about 8 post holes of the end when tragedy struck.

One of the chains that makes the backhoe arm swing side to side busted, leaving the backhoe inoperable. The owner states the chain costs about $20 to replace, let’s hope that is all! Jason is getting afraid to use any borrowed equipment, he is definitely having a bad run of luck lately. First the airless paint sprayer and now the tractor.

The fence line is almost done. It will be so wonderful to be able to open the pens and let the horses run free, galloping across the fields with the wind in their manes and tails.

Many thanks to Constance W. for her very generous monthly support that came in today. You can see your name here tomorrow, just click here! As you can imagine, with setting up the new facility and no fund raisers recently, with all the monthly bills your donation is greatly appreciated! The hay has to be paid for to feed all the hungry mouths.

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As you all know, we have been earnestly looking for that perfect name. We asked

As you all know we have been earnestly looking for that perfect name. We asked you to send us your ideas. All the names were very good, but none seemed to be that perfect name. We wanted the name to have “Horse” in it but we wanted to be able to help any animal that needs help. Horses are our focus and always will be.

We seriously contemplated the new name of Phoenix Fields Humane Society. The name Phoenix after our horse who was almost starved to death and made an amazing recovery. Phoenix Fields was good, but somehow it was not the perfect name either. We finally found the name: Horse Plus Humane Society.

We all love this name, it stands for horses plus whatever animal needs help. Horse Plus! We are all excited on how everything is coming together and now the new name has been picked out. We love it and hope you love it too. Let us know what you think of it.

Tawnee has worked up a few logos, but we want to see if there is anyone out there who likes to make logos. If so, make it up and send it to us. If we use your logo you will get a $100.00 Wal*Mart gift card.

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We would like to extend a warm invitation to you to visit us at the Horse Expo, June 11-13 in Sacramento. The annual Western States Horse Expo is always an exciting event with far too much to see and do!

We would also like to invite you to spend a night, 2 or 3 at the lovely Red Lion Hotel at 1401 Arden Way, Sacramento. It is walking distance (by Jason and Tawnee’s standards) to the expo. For a discounted rate of $89 a night you can have a a great nights rest AND a great breakfast. Just tell them that you are visiting the horse expo when you make your reservation or check in. The Red Lion loves animals, this is the 2nd year in a row that they have donated rooms for our staff to stay at during the expo. Please give them a call at: 916-922-8041.

You may have noticed that we did not send a blog out Sunday evening. That is all Tawnee’s fault.

Sunday morning was bright and beautiful. Raja had some potential adopters looking at her when her ears went up: she heard a new sound.

The very first Harley’s to ever visit the rescue pulled in. They had told Larry that if it was a beautiful day they were going to be cruising on the way down, and sure enough.

They had recently lost one of their horses from medical complications, and their remaining horse was in desperate need of a companion. They really liked gaited horses and were really interested in Frankie.

But Copper Hopper had other ideas. He saw his opportunity to get a home. He really knows how to wiggle his way into hearts, and knows the routine as this is his 2nd adoption. He walked over and started whispering in what he wanted to be his new mommy’s ear. It worked, they put both him and his buddy Frankie in adoption pending. Way to go Copper Hopper, you really worked your magic.

Raja was still being visited by her potential adopters. Soon she was all tacked up and ready for a ride.

They truly fell in love with her and now Raja is in adoption pending too! Three horses lined up for their new homes in one Sunday.

Alex and April were busy working on pens, keeping the horses in where they are supposed to be and out of where they are not supposed to be.

It was Cupid’s big day to head to his new loving home. One of our previous adopters opened her heart and home to this special senior guy.

He looked into the trailer with anticipation, you could see the excitement in his eyes.

He was a very good boy and got right into the trailer. He is ready to start his new adventure, that’s for sure! He will enjoy spending his days with two other of our rescued horses, and will no doubt have many stories to share with them. We really appreciate our previous adopters opening their homes to horses that desperately need a chance at happiness.

Tawnee and April were grooming horses off and on throughout the day. There are two horses at the rescue right now that have shown particularly aggressive behavior. Tawnee was grooming one of them, and in the blink of an eye, it had kicked her right in the knee. She hopped backwards in pain, flopped down in the ground, and thought “This doesn’t hurt quite as bad as being pepper sprayed right in the face, I will live.” This picture was taken right after it happened and it already had some coloration. Due to Tawnee’s injury she was unable to get the blog out last night.

This morning Jason had a business meeting in town and then he headed out to paint the office trailer. We had someone loan us their airless painter so we could it painted faster.

The painting started, and soon Jason noticed smoke pouring out of the machine. Then it died. We are trying to contact the owner so we can figure out how to proceed. It is always terrible when you borrow something and it blows up.

So Jason headed off to another pressing matter. The fencing!

Post after post had to go into the ground.

Each post leveled in 3 directions to make it look as nice as possible.

Shovel after shovel full of dirt went down the holes. Jason says he is about half down with the first run. That’s over 54 posts that have been set and buried!

Tawnee has been hobbling around on crutches all day and can put some weight on her leg, so she has decided she will be just fine after 3 or 4 months off of work, or maybe we can lessen that to 3 or 4 days. She’s just afraid she will get stuck working the booth at the expo instead of walking around with Macho Man enjoying the sights.

We would like to thank each and every one that has donated over the past few weeks. We are going to start thanking you on a personal level tomorrow. Jason and Tawnee were unable to send the Thank-You cards out at the end of April due to the training, so April and May’s will be combined.

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Tawnee was kicked in the knee by a horse this afternoon and is experiencing great pain and will be seeking medical advice. The days events will be sent out in tomorrows (Monday’s) blog.

Yesterdays blog –

Tuesday at the family that was surrendering 5 horses, Jason and the family safely loaded all 5 and he was ready to begin the long trip back to the rescue.

The road just kept stretching on and on. The snow covered peaks were quite beautiful, despite it being the end of May!

On the way back to the new facility Jason picked up Bucky from the vet. He was recently gelded and was ready to come back so he can find a new home.

Bucky is the first donkey at the new facility. He is a very sweet guy, about 15 years old. He had to leave his last home as he is a very vocal guy.

One by one the 5 horses were unloaded and put in a waiting pen.

When Tawnee was unloading this guy, she noticed he has an Arabian brand. She shaved it down to find out who he is. It’s so nice when horses are freeze branded with a registry, it makes it so easy to find out how old they are, what their name is, etc.

Tawnee looked it up on the Arabian database, and his name is Raq Dandy. He was born in 1987, making him 23 years old. Back in 1988 he was shown according to his registration records. His last recorded owner is from 1988, we believe she must have sold him, and the papers never got transfered. The neat thing is that Tawnee has been able to get the information and phone #’s for both his breeder and his last registered owner with a little detective work. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that one of them are willing to give him the retirement he deserves.

After all the horses were settled in Jason and Tawnee headed out for the long drive to the next training venue.

It was about 10:30 at night, when driving along they came upon 2 horses loose on the side of the road. It was a well traveled road, and the chances of these horses being hit was very high. Thankfully Tawnee was able to catch and halter them. Fearing the worst of not being able to find their home, Tawnee made the comment “The one time we aren’t pulling a trailer…”

Tawnee led them down the closest driveway, hoping it was their home. Thankfully it was their home, and soon they were tucked into their pen safely. Their owners had let them out to eat grass in their front yard, but the horses found a way out of the fencing and headed out on their own little grass eating adventure, that could have turned deadly. Thankfully Jason and Tawnee were there at the right time!

The next morning found Jason and Tawnee waiting to start the new class.

This class was a difficult one, Euthanasia by Injection. It is necessary to receive a well rounded education in becoming Humane Officers.

Back at the rescue, Frosty Blue and Brandy were adopted. Yes, the photo is Photoshopped, but with so many photos in this blog we combined two photos into 1 so you can see both of them being adopted at once.

Soon they were loaded up and ready to head out on their new adventure in life.

The training was at Marin Humane Society, and at the facility they had a very neat mural that Tawnee just had to exam a little closer.

Come to find out, almost every tile had a name or message on it. What a great idea! The wall was really built by a master artist, every tile carved so intricately.

The class was given a tour of the facility, and amazingly enough, they have their own horse barn!

They had big beautiful stalls. What a wonderful sight to see.

Thursday Jason and Tawnee completed the class and are now California Certified Euthanasia Technicians. It was really good to understand exactly how the drug works, and it is truly humane, peaceful, and is very gentle. Just a note: if you ever see a vet or vet tech using the pink solution on any animal other than a dog, pleasereport them! The pink solution is illegal and wrong to use on any animal other than a dog. It is inhumane and cruel to attempt to euthanise some other kind of animal using the pink solution. Pure sodium pentobarbitrol (the blue) works much better than any other solution, even on dogs. The reason some vets use the pink solution is it is less regulated and requires less paperwork on their end. Animals suffer so the vet doesn’t have to do as much paperwork.

On the way back, Jason and Tawnee stopped at Chipotle and ordered veggie bureritos. At the checkout the clerk, noticing their shirts, said “Good thing you didn’t get steak, it’s horse meat.” Tawnee replied “I hope not or I would have to arrest you.” An awkward silence and then the clerk said “I’m just joking…”

After that it was a quick stop at Build-a-Bear to get Dottie and Macho Man some new shoes for the Expo.

The clerk probably thought they were joking when they said it was for horses.

Friday found Jason, Alex and Larry getting rail-road ties by the dozen. Those things are heavy!

Thankfully the borrowed dump trailer makes quick work of unloading them. Just push a button and…

…they are all on the ground, ready to be put up as fenceposts.

We would like to take a minute to thank Larry, April, and Alex for taking care of everything while Jason and Tawnee have been at training. We couldn’t do it without you guys! You are truly a huge a blessing, and everything ran so smoothly while Jason and Tawnee were gone. Way to go guys, you’re awesome!

Finally, the blog is all caught up, look for todays events this evening!